REDLANDS: Bike film festival set for Fox Theatre

The loss of two cycling friends in fatal traffic accidents was the catalyst that led Mike Friis to establish the Inland Empire Biking Alliance, which encourages bike riding and safety.

The Alliance is sponsoring its first film festival next month, offering three evenings of cycling films Oct. 12-14 and a free bicycling event starting at Sylvan Park in Redlands on Oct. 13.

“This is my first film festival and I’m nervous as (heck) about it,” Friis said this week.

He has lined up three documentary-style feature films and about an hour’s worth of bicycling shorts to precede each one.

The feature films are “Reveal the Path,” an adventure documentary about bicycle explorers; “Two Shining Seas,” about a group of disabled veterans who undertook a ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean; and “Road to Roubaix,” about a one-day, old-school bike race from Paris to Roubaix.

Friis said the presentation of “Two Shining Seas” will be a world premiere of the film by Austin Smithard. Smithard will introduce the movie by relating how he became so caught up in the stories of the 20 veterans making the journey that he felt compelled to make the documentary.

“Reveal the Path” is a movie by Mike Dion that came out this year, Friis said.

“It’s about people who travel all over the world on their bikes and immerse themselves in different cultures that use bikes for different purposes,” Friis said.

Friis has been publicizing the film fest on his website, iebikingalliance.org, and through fliers at bicycle shops and coffee shops from the San Gorgonio Pass to Redlands and Riverside.

Proceeds from ticket sales $15 for adults and $10 for children — benefit 10 cycling organizations, many of which encourage children to ride bikes.

Friis said it was the death of his friend Lynn Pletcher, 70, a Yucaipa bicyclist and former Yucaipa High School principal, that caused him to create the Inland Empire Biking Alliance.

Pletcher died when he was hit by a car Nov. 4, 2010, while riding in Cherry Valley.

In April of that year, another Inland cyclist was killed on Greenspot Road in Highland when he was hit by a speeding Honda driven by a teenager who authorities said lost control during a road race. Jorge Alvarado, 27, an Ontario resident, was in his first year of a professional cycling career, riding with the Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team.

Patrick Roraff, 18, a student at Redlands East Valley High School at the time, was traveling more than 70 mph when his vehicle struck Alvarado and threw him into a field, investigators said.

Roraff and Brett Morin, who was driving the other car, each were charged with vehicular manslaughter. Roraff pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and in August was sentenced to 90 days in jail, three years probation and 100 hours of community service, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s website states.

Morin pleaded guilty to the same charge on Aug. 15 and was jailed pending his sentencing hearing, set for Wednesday, Oct. 3, the DA’s website states.

Friis said he was angered by Roraff’s sentence.

“That was just unbelievable,” he said. “Three months for taking someone’s life?”

But it also strengthened his resolve to raise awareness of cycling safety issues among both bicyclists and motorists.

But mostly, he hopes to re-establish a sense of community by getting people out of their houses and onto bicycles.

“We’ve isolated ourselves inside our houses. We don’t interact with each other anymore,” he said. “I want to get our communities back.”

Bike Film Fest

The Inland Empire Biking Alliance film festival is set for Oct. 12-14 at the Fox Theater in Redlands.